28.7.08
Kota Bharu
Aloha! This time from Kota Bharu in the North of Malaysia. The weather is really good: sunny and hot. I met up with Anna a few days ago in Kuala Lumpur and from there we took the bus into the Jungle at Taman Negara. We stayed there on the riverside for 2 nights and the forest was really awesome. We did a couple of walks through the jungle and up the mountains. On the downside, we had some rain and that is when the leeches come out. Bleh. When we stopped to check my feet were bleeding, I had 8 bites and 3 of the things still hanging around in my socks. Bleh! The Germans next to us seemed not entirely at ease with it and neither was I actually. Anna was spared for reasons unknown. The next day we decided to skip the walking at took a boat through the jungle back to civilization. When we arrived we took a long train through the jungle up North, where we are now. This morning we visited some markets and had lunch now we will try to find where they make the traditional kites. Hope we will find 'm.
23.7.08
Kuala Lumpur report
Aloha! So here I am: KL. I got up this morning at 5.30 to get myself to the trainstation in time and I found it and I made it. Got on the train and the trip was really cool. Nice jungle style views from my window and the weather seemed to get getter the further I got. At some point I did start to get a bit worried as the train was already supposed to be there, but was not. After an hour I was wondering wether I might have missed the stop, but figured that KL should be big enough that you would notice stopping there. An hour later we arrived and the train apologized for the delay.
Kuala Lumpur seems a nice place. It is less tidy then Singapore and a bit more smelly. But I do not mind. I seems really busy, hustling and bustling and really Asian. I think I like it here. I took a walk through Chinatown where people tried to sell me all kinds of fake Adidas and Rolexes. After that I went to this Thai place that served a really good red curry with the biggest pile of shrimp I have ever seen on a plate. Tomorrow I will go and see the sights and have dinner with Anna to come up with a travelplan for saturday.
No pictures sadly, the computer has no usb and there is no Wifi. - No Wifi?!, yes no Wifi. I am staying at the Green Hut hostel. No Wifi. Keep that in mind, otherwise it seems alright. - Ciao!
Kuala Lumpur seems a nice place. It is less tidy then Singapore and a bit more smelly. But I do not mind. I seems really busy, hustling and bustling and really Asian. I think I like it here. I took a walk through Chinatown where people tried to sell me all kinds of fake Adidas and Rolexes. After that I went to this Thai place that served a really good red curry with the biggest pile of shrimp I have ever seen on a plate. Tomorrow I will go and see the sights and have dinner with Anna to come up with a travelplan for saturday.
No pictures sadly, the computer has no usb and there is no Wifi. - No Wifi?!, yes no Wifi. I am staying at the Green Hut hostel. No Wifi. Keep that in mind, otherwise it seems alright. - Ciao!
22.7.08
Singapore
So, Singapore. It is big. It has many shopping malls. Its seems to consist mainly of shopping malls actually and that makes it a bit of a strange place. Yesterday was my first day here and it was quite rainy. I went outside took look for the trainstation and I got rained upon. A lot, as it rains a lot here. What is amazing is that all the sidewalk here are covered in a kind of bathroomtiles that get slippery when they get wet. This made it difficult to get around .
It was also rather difficult to find the trainstation, I did not succeed yesterday. I also could not really find a tourist information with a staff member occupieing it. This meant I had to make do with the made that I got from the counter. The map shows a few interesting things, but mainly shopping malls. This also seems the main thing that people do here in Singapore. Singapore is excellent for shopping for either clothes or electronics. I have never in my life seen such large and so many malls.
What I like about Singapore is that there are many really nicely coloured buildings. Both big and small. The high rise buildings are made of cubic shapes stacked very creatively which reminds me of soviet buildings, but their colourfull paint makes them look very happy. It is also a very green place, plants seem to grow every where and the city smells remarkalby nice. Oo, and very nice food, everywhere.
In the end I did find the trainstation and got me a ticket to Kuala Lumpur. I am leaving tomorrow at 7.40hrs and will be interested in what I find, I hope. Also, some photos are now online.
It was also rather difficult to find the trainstation, I did not succeed yesterday. I also could not really find a tourist information with a staff member occupieing it. This meant I had to make do with the made that I got from the counter. The map shows a few interesting things, but mainly shopping malls. This also seems the main thing that people do here in Singapore. Singapore is excellent for shopping for either clothes or electronics. I have never in my life seen such large and so many malls.
What I like about Singapore is that there are many really nicely coloured buildings. Both big and small. The high rise buildings are made of cubic shapes stacked very creatively which reminds me of soviet buildings, but their colourfull paint makes them look very happy. It is also a very green place, plants seem to grow every where and the city smells remarkalby nice. Oo, and very nice food, everywhere.
In the end I did find the trainstation and got me a ticket to Kuala Lumpur. I am leaving tomorrow at 7.40hrs and will be interested in what I find, I hope. Also, some photos are now online.
21.7.08
Report from Australia
Hi there, now that I have some spare time I would like to fill you in on my what I have been up to in my last weeks in Australia. I did not really get round to it before. So here we go. As you might have understood I went up to Cairns for a week. I was not really in the mood for travelling, but I really wanted to see the rainforest and the great barrier reef, so I took the easy way out and got myself a fairly expensive plane ticket to Cairns. The trip takes about three hours -2000 km- and then you are there. Cairns.
I assumed that Cairn would be a nice and big city with heaps of stuff to do, but that was a bit of a disappointment. It is small and it is there for tourists. There is not much to do on your own, so you will have to take a organised tour. So thats what I did. The first day I went snorkling on a massive catamaran that speeds out to the reef in about 1.5 hours. The snorkling was awesome, sadly I did not take any photos of fish as my camera is not waterproof. After that lunch is served and you are taken to a second, also nice, snorkling spot. The second and third days I went up to the Daintree rainforst at Cape Tribulation. This is where the rainforest meets the sea and there are some stunning beaches and trees. No swimming though as all the waters are inhabited by crocodiles. Most people that die of crodile attacks are Germans, closely followed by the Japanese. On the route from Cairn to the rainforest we stopped a several interesting locations: a jungle walk - pretty neat, a nice wooden walkway to keep you comfortable -, a river filled with crocodiles - we saw only 2 crodiles and they did not seem that fierce -, a viewpoint from where you could see the spot where Steve Irwin died and Port Douglas - I do not recommend going there -. All in all a nice trip.
When I got back I did not really feel like staying in Cairns for the reasons stated above. I thus decided to go to Magnetic Island near Townsville. The Island I really nice with forests and beaches where you can actually swim. I visited a Koala village and also managed to see some Koalas hanging from the trees. After that it was time to get back to Sydney again. When I got back there I met up with Megan for a weekend in Port Stephens. Port Stephens I a nice and quiet village about 3 hours North of Sydney by bus. It has some nice beaches and walks through the forests. Supposedly it is possible to spot dolpins and whales at Port Stephens, which is something I would have liked. This is either a lie, or I just had bad luck, I did not see any. It was a pretty nice getaway anyway.
The last days in Sydney were a bit sad, as I spend most of my time saying goodbye to many nice people. I have also been looking for a graduation project to start graduating when I get back home which is starting to get somewhere.
See some photoos on flickr
I assumed that Cairn would be a nice and big city with heaps of stuff to do, but that was a bit of a disappointment. It is small and it is there for tourists. There is not much to do on your own, so you will have to take a organised tour. So thats what I did. The first day I went snorkling on a massive catamaran that speeds out to the reef in about 1.5 hours. The snorkling was awesome, sadly I did not take any photos of fish as my camera is not waterproof. After that lunch is served and you are taken to a second, also nice, snorkling spot. The second and third days I went up to the Daintree rainforst at Cape Tribulation. This is where the rainforest meets the sea and there are some stunning beaches and trees. No swimming though as all the waters are inhabited by crocodiles. Most people that die of crodile attacks are Germans, closely followed by the Japanese. On the route from Cairn to the rainforest we stopped a several interesting locations: a jungle walk - pretty neat, a nice wooden walkway to keep you comfortable -, a river filled with crocodiles - we saw only 2 crodiles and they did not seem that fierce -, a viewpoint from where you could see the spot where Steve Irwin died and Port Douglas - I do not recommend going there -. All in all a nice trip.
When I got back I did not really feel like staying in Cairns for the reasons stated above. I thus decided to go to Magnetic Island near Townsville. The Island I really nice with forests and beaches where you can actually swim. I visited a Koala village and also managed to see some Koalas hanging from the trees. After that it was time to get back to Sydney again. When I got back there I met up with Megan for a weekend in Port Stephens. Port Stephens I a nice and quiet village about 3 hours North of Sydney by bus. It has some nice beaches and walks through the forests. Supposedly it is possible to spot dolpins and whales at Port Stephens, which is something I would have liked. This is either a lie, or I just had bad luck, I did not see any. It was a pretty nice getaway anyway.
The last days in Sydney were a bit sad, as I spend most of my time saying goodbye to many nice people. I have also been looking for a graduation project to start graduating when I get back home which is starting to get somewhere.
See some photoos on flickr
20.7.08
In Singapore
Hi! Arrived in Singapore last night in the middle of the night. The flight from Australia to here was good and I think I will miss Sydney. I will now go and explore Singapore and hope to upload some photoos, also from Cairns one of these days. Ciao!
2.7.08
To Cairns and beyond...
After many days of bumming
around Sydney I am finally
moving again. This time up North,
next friday, as they are saying
it will start raining in Sydney.
I will fly with my trusted
Quantas airways to see
the Great Barrier reef and the
Daintree rainforest. I'll try to
take some photos for you
people at home. Details below.
YOUR ITINERARY AND TRAVEL DETAILS:
QANTAS AIRWAYS QF0167 ECONOMY CLASS (M) CONFIRMED
DEPART 04JUL08 SYDNEY 0805
ARRIVE 04JUL08 CAIRNS 1110
DEPARTS FROM:TERMINAL 1
ARRIVES AT: TERMINAL I
NVA 31DEC
BAGGAGE ALLOWANCE: 20 KILO
------------------------------------------------------------ -----
QANTAS AIRWAYS QF0921 ECONOMY CLASS (S) CONFIRMED
DEPART 11JUL08 CAIRNS 0545
ARRIVE 11JUL08 SYDNEY 0845
DEPARTS FROM:TERMINAL D
ARRIVES AT: TERMINAL 3
NVA 31DEC
BAGGAGE ALLOWANCE: 20 KILO
------------------------------------------------------------ -----
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